Of Tremors, of Quake, of Rushing Landslides, of Broken Vale
by twilighteve-writes
Summary: Lance's eyes widened. "Oh man. You're like our own Toph from Avatar." Hunk blinked, because that was actually a pretty accurate description of what he was feeling. "I'm like Toph," he echoed, a smile on his face. Or, Hunk discovers his powers and beats a bunch of giant alien insects with the team. Also, he cusses alien badgers a storm.


If Hunk really thought about it, his ability to rouse the earth to do his biddings probably awakened a long time ago. Maybe just days after Keith's powers to awaken, but he couldn't pinpoint when exactly because his ability was just too abstract and too hard to track.

It wasn't until they visited a rocky, sandy planet that he truly realized that he could use his powers. It felt like his horizon had expanded exponentially the moment his feet touched the planet's surface, and he couldn't help the gasp that slipped through his lips. He realized immediately that he _had_ felt it before, but never so clearly, never so intensely.

He could _feel_ where each of his teammates were, where the ships were, where the Lions they had brought down with them were. It felt like the earth itself spoke to his skin and sang melodies of each and everything that existed on it. Not just _on_ , but also _under_ , and Hunk had to grab Yellow for support when the rush made him wobble with dizziness.

"Whoa," was the only thing he managed to gasp out, and that couldn't nearly begin to cover how amazing the new sense was.

He felt Shiro coming to him before he saw it. "Hunk, are you okay?"

Hunk turned to face him, eyes still wide. "Shiro, I think I just unlocked my ability."

Lance's excited skipped steps sent a tingle of fondness up his legs. "You have?" the tall, lanky guy asked, bouncing on his heels. "What is it? What can you do?"

"I don't know how to explain it," Hunk began, "but it feels like I can tell where you guys are without even looking? Like your movements make tremors and I'd be able to pick it up straight from the ground?"

Lance's eyes widened. "Oh man. You're like our own Toph from Avatar."

Hunk blinked, because that was actually a pretty accurate description of what he was feeling. "I'm like Toph," he echoed, a smile on his face.

"That's so cool!" Pidge commented immediately, rushing to Hunk faster than Hunk would have expected. "Can you do other things? Can you earthbend? Can you throw around big chunks of giant rocks? Can you put someone in an earthen prison and _crush them to death_?"

" _Pidge_ ," Shiro glared at the girl.

"What? That was a legit question!" Pidge protested, throwing her hands up in exasperation.

Keith nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah, very legit. Can you do it, Hunk?"

" _Keith_."

"What? That would make a better containment method than handcuffs."

Lance snickered. "You know, I would pay to see one of the Galra officers put in a rock tube with just their head out while we roll it down a hill."

Hunk pointed at him. "Just for _that_ alone I will see if I could earthbend."

"Ooh, now?"

"Dude, I don't think I can magically unlock it in just a minute."

"Oh, right," Lance blinked and straightened up. "Oh well. Anyway, where are we going again?"

Allura, who had been watching everything from the sidelines with Coran while smiling fondly at the Paladins, cleared her throat and pointed to a direction. "The distress signal came from that way. It's a rather far walk, but it shouldn't take us too long to get there."

The group spent the walk in relative silence, their focus taken by the upcoming mission at once. The distress signal had come from a planet that hadn't flared its signal in many millennia, and they couldn't help but think about what could possibly prompt them to flare it. Moreover, there didn't seem to be any sign of Galra in the planet's orbit.

After a while, Allura stopped walking and gave out a confused _uh_.

Lance turned to her quizzically, tilting his head aside as he asked, "What's the matter, Princess? Are we there yet?"

"How can we be there yet?" Keith argued. "There's nothing here."

"Well, technically there are, like, infinite rows of small hills with several streams running through the vales," Hunk held up a finger, "but yeah, otherwise this area looks pretty empty."

"Yes, about that," Allura held up a device that she used to track the source of the distress signal's location. "According to this, we should be in the area already. However…" she gestured at the hills.

"Well that's weird, that device shouldn't malfunction," Pidge took it off Allura's hands and shook it. "Hunk and I built it ourselves. Unless the inhabitants in this planet don't live in the planet's surface?" She stared at Hunk pointedly.

Hunk blinked and looked down on the ground. "Oh. About that." He knelt and pressed a hand on the ground, trying to extend his senses downwards. It was far easier than he expected, and suddenly he could _see_ tunnels extending down the earth without actually seeing anything virtually. The images filled his mind as easily as recipes do, along with impressions of thick furred feet and sharp claws. There was also something else, something bigger he couldn't really get an image of – but he could imagine large haired feet that reminded him of insects and angry, beady eyes, followed with snapping, clicking horizontal jaws. He drew back in surprise immediately, straightening up and stumbling back dizzily, bumping into Shiro.

"Are you okay, Hunk?" the Black Paladin asked as he helped Hunk regain his footing.

"Fine, fine, don't worry about me," Hunk replied with an apologetic grin. "Just a bit surprised. Yeah, the inhabitants of this planet live underground. I think I have an idea of how they look like, somehow? I'm not sure."

"Well, how do they look like?" Coran asked curiously. "We've never had contact with this planet before. _I_ would be happy to know what to expect when we meet them."

"I don't know, isn't being surprised kind of seem appealing too?" Lance argued.

"While that's true, sometimes just knowing what they look like could help you guess what customs they practice," Coran explained. "It could help us skirt away from cultural faux-pas. It helps plenty with alliance establishment!" He turned to Hunk expectantly while Lance muttered an _oh, right_ under his breath.

"I don't know for sure," Hunk began, "but I guess some fur? Or a lot of it? And big feet. Also, huge claws on hands. Paws? For digging, I think."

"Kind of like some sort of burrowing animal on Earth?" Pidge piped up.

"Yeah, that's actually a pretty accurate description," Hunk nodded. He looked down at the turquoise grass. "Also, I got something… big. I'm not sure what. It reminds me of a giant insect, somehow."

"A giant insect," Keith repeated, clear disgust in his voice. When the others stared at him for confirmation, he threw up his arms in exasperation. "I've had to deal with a lot of pests in my years of living alone. I'm really not into having to deal more with insects when I'm in space, okay."

"It's okay, Keith, I understand," Lance patted Keith's shoulder in sympathy. "Abuela has declared that fire ants and termites are her mortal enemy after some problem at home when she was still a teenager. She still hates them with passion even now."

"…what problems?" Keith asked, looking like he wasn't sure he wanted to know.

Lance's smile was stiff and dark. "Somehow the termites managed to bring the house to the ground, and the fire ants ate the plants, fruits, and grains from the garden."

Keith patted Lance's shoulder back awkwardly. Lance nodded appreciatively.

"Anyway," Hunk spoke up and caught the others' attention again, "I have a feeling that the giant insects are the problem here, somehow. Maybe something about their tunnels or something? And… uh." He looked down. "Um, that's doesn't feel good."

"What?" Pidge demanded instantly.

"Something makes this weirdly big tremor," Hunk responded. "It feels ugly. And the tremor's strong. It kind of goes _boom, boom,_ boom rhythmically. Don't you guys feel it?"

It felt really strong for Hunk, but apparently the others didn't feel it, because they stared at him in confusion. And then the tremor got a _lot_ stronger, and Shiro went rigid, looking down to the ground before his eyes ran over the horizon.

"What is this?" Allura asked, eyes wide. "It feels like groundshake…"

"Is that, like, Altean equivalent of earthquake or something?" Lance asked.

"This doesn't really feel like earthquake though," Pidge argued.

Shiro relaxed a little, no longer looking like a rabbit ready to bolt, but still alert. "It reminds me of the sound effect from movies like _Godzilla_ and _Jurassic Park_ when the giant lizards walk around."

"Giant lizard?" Coran repeated. "Is that anything like a Schoompee?"

"We could compare them later, maybe?" Keith suggested. "Also, it doesn't exactly feel like a walking dino. The booming is a lot faster, almost constant. I don't really feel the silent gap between the booms."

"So… maybe there's a lot of it, whatever it is?" Lance suggested.

"No, this is more like…" Keith's eyes widened. "Oh, _fuck_."

Keith's realization came at the same time as Hunk's. The Yellow Paladin reached out and grabbed Lance and Pidge – the two closest to him – by the scruff of their armor and threw them behind his back. He ignored their indignant, surprised yells and opted to glare at the tip of a nearby hill, which had begun to shake violently, breaking the turquoise grass blanket and revealing dark, dark red soil underneath, which bubbled up and up as something burrowed upwards to break the surface. And it did; a pair of clicking horizontal jaws loudly snapped together as it met fresh air while its numerous limbs climbed up the freshly made hole. Its dark pink body glistened under the shine of the sun. It looked like a giant ant with ten feet instead of six, with an extra pair of scorpion-like claws snapping at the air. Its overly large head reminded Hunk of a termite somehow, though it was arguably a bit more proportional than a termite. And a whole lotta bigger, too, considering it was as big as a small bus.

Pidge's long and loud _ewww_ perfectly described how Hunk felt about the oversized not-ant.

Then the not-ant fixed its beady eyes at them and began advancing to them with a screech and a vicious click of its horizontal jaws.

Lance's shrill shriek as he materialized his bayard to defend himself in horror perfectly described how Hunk felt about the new development.

Fortunately, they had become accustomed to covering each other's backs that they practically could protect each other with their eyes closed. Even with the added two members that didn't normally join in their missions, the Paladins easily maneuvered around each other to protect one another. Shiro and Keith rushed ahead to attack the oversized insect directly, effectively cutting up its numerous legs to immobilize it. Hunk used his blaster to hold it back, hitting any available surface that could keep it at bay. Lance easily shot its eyes many times, though some of his shots were somehow bounced away. After a moment, though, he managed to blind the insect in one eye, resulting in a pained and angry roar. Pidge flitted about like green lightning, lassoing the insect's legs or jaws and sending bouts of shock to distract it from attacking Shiro and Keith. Allura helped, too, using a staff to hit away the thing's snapping jaws whenever she could. Even Coran, the one usually staying behind to guard the castle and therefore didn't spend much time physically fighting things on the ground, somehow produced a pair of small blasters and had begun shooting at the alien insect. His aim wasn't as good as Lance's, but it was better than Hunk's.

Soon enough, the alien insect fell with a screech. It was still clicking its oversized jaws viciously, trying to get them, so Hunk made use of his superior firepower and used his blaster to sever its head. Once it popped off, the head rolled around while the jaws clicked frantically before finally stilling, dead.

"What in Coran's mustache is that?" Lance asked shrilly. He glared at the alien insect hotly, disgusted and disturbed at the same time. "Abuela will _not_ like that."

A shuffling sound behind them made them turn, weapons levelled. From a freshly dug hole popped someone's head, which looked like a cross between a mole and a badger with glistening dark silver fur. They sniffed the air with their pink nose and squinted at the insect.

"You can't kill it like that," they finally said.

"What do you mean?" Shiro asked quizzically.

"It'll come back to life if you just sever the head," they answered. "We still don't know how to kill it for good. It's why we sent a distress signal."

Hunk stared at them. "Did you just say _come back to life_?" he squeaked.

Right on cue, the alien ant began clicking and wriggling again, making Pidge scream and jump back. Its skin began to bubble, both on the head and the body. Slowly, the head began to grow a new body, and the body a new head.

" _Abuela will definitely_ not _like that_ ," Lance shrieked, shooting the head that was growing a new body relentlessly. It slowed the growing, but didn't stop it.

"Let me just – " Keith rushed forward, taking a small igniter – which was essentially the Altean equivalent of a lighter – to create a small lick of flames. His eyes and hands glowed red and he coaxed the fire to grow bigger and hotter, eventually consuming the freak of nature that were the alien ants. Hunk and Shiro pulled back Pidge, Lance, Allura, and Coran from the flames' radius, but not before the fire licked Allura's open hands and caused burns that made her cry out in pain.

Lance reacted quickly, pulling Allura gently by her arms and began tending to her wounds. His eyes glowed the familiar cool blue, as did his hands. Water appeared out of nowhere and enveloped his hands, in which he cupped Allura's wounded ones. Hunk knew she was healed only seconds after from how her face relaxed. It turned to panic almost immediately when Lance slumped into her arms.

"I'm okay, I'm okay," he waved her off. "Sorry. I just used more energy than I expected. I'm still not that good at healing."

Allura frowned, but it was Coran who put a hand on his shoulder and suggested, "Perhaps you should try not to use it so often, then. We don't want you collapsing."

Lance nodded. He turned to the still-burning insect. "Is the creepy crawly ant thing dead yet?"

"It should be dead," Keith replied. "I made sure the fire's hot enough to burn a house down to the ground in minutes. And…" he fixed his gaze to Allura. "I'm sorry. I should have been more careful about the fire."

"It's alright," Allura assured, "you just need to train more. _Both_ of you, in fact." She levelled a steely gaze to Lance. "If you insist on using your healing abilities for every little thing like this, you better practice it until it comes as naturally as controlling water to you."

Lance groaned. "But I couldn't just let you walk around with burns on your pretty hands!" he protested. "Plus, it will take _forever_ to train healing abilities. We don't even get hurt that much."

"Lance, thank you for healing my hands," Allura grasped Lance's hand, "I appreciate it very much. But I've told you this and I'll tell you again; I'd rather live with wounds and scars than let you burn out from using your own life force to heal other people. Voltron needs you, the universe needs you, _we_ need you."

Lance sighed. "Well I won't let people be if they're wounded, so… I guess I'll have to train."

Hunk was just about to melt from hearing those words, because Lance's inability to leave anything he could help be was just plain endearing and perhaps a tad frustrating at times, and stepped ahead to envelope his best friend in a hug when soft tremors that felt like the earth was trying to tell him something stopped him. He turned as he let the feeling wash over him, and he knew before his eyes fell on them that he'd see more of the inhabitants of the planet.

True to his hunch, he saw dozens of the inhabitants behind him. They were an interesting mix of different burrowing animals that Hunk was familiar with. They had a mole's weirdly wriggly nose, as well as its eyes. The teeth were small and sharp, peeking out from their lips, like a shrew's. Streaks of white along the length of their dark silver body reminded Hunk of a badger. They had six appendages, the lowest two they used to stand on. They had large claws on their upper paws and smaller ones on their lower paws. Their tail was long with stringy hair, lashing about like a cat's would, and at the end of it was something that made Hunk think about fleshy doll-grabbing-machine claw.

"They killed it," one of them breathed.

"How? Not even Earth could do it," another wondered, the capital E in _earth_ so blatant.

"They're not of the Earth," yet another hissed with eyes squinted suspiciously. Hunk tightened his grip at his bayard, which he hadn't deactivated. Something about the way the aliens gazed at them made him feel uneasy.

Allura seized her opportunity and flashed them the brightest, most winning smile she could whip up. "Greetings, people of Taua," she began, extending her hands in what appeared to be a universal gesture of _hi I'm a regal person nice to meet you_. "I am Princess Allura of Altea, and this is the royal advisor of the Altean royal family, Coran. I am here with the Paladins of Voltron. We received your distress signal and we wish to do anything we could to help you."

The aliens were silent, glancing at one another with their tiny eyes and shuffling on their stout feet. Then, they stared at the largest out of them, who huffed and stepped forward, tail swishing and flesh-claw grabbing at the air. "Greetings," he replied to Allura. "I am Lapisi, acting chief of the Tauans."

"I'm sorry, _acting_ chief?" Allura echoed in confusion.

"The insects got our chief," Lapisi answered gravely. "We've had to make do since then."

"I'm sorry for your loss," Allura offered genuinely. "We hope that we could help prevent more losses from your part."

Lapisi stared, tail flicking and grabbing. "Perhaps," he settled, and Hunk was taken aback by the tone he spoke in. It sounded… condescending, somewhat? Who in the world would take that kind of tone with Allura?

Allura, however, didn't seem fazed by this. She merely smiled and nodded, saying, "We'll try our best. Can you tell us what exactly is the problem?"

Lapisi's whiskers twitched. "If you're so sure you could help, I'll let you," he said at last. "However, please keep in mind that even we, the Children of Earth, were not able to bring these beasts to their downfall."

Allura managed to keep her ethereal air of royalty despite looking like she'd just swallowed a whole lemon when she heard Lapisi's degrading tone. Hunk was impressed. Still, Allura forced a smile and nodded patiently. "The Voltron Paladins would be able to handle it, I'm certain of it," she assured. "Please, if you'd tell us the problem…?"

Lapisi huffed a breath that somehow made him sound like he was biting back a laugh, but his expression suggested that he was sighing, somehow. "It's the Clickjaws," he said.

Allura leaned forward a little. "Clickjaws?" she repeated.

"The insect you just killed, somehow," he explained. "We have a lot of insects here, and most of them are very big, but the Clickjaws are the worst. They appeared some time ago seemingly out of nowhere, and they have a taste for us Tauans. Little cubs, especially. They dig into our tunnel network and wreak havoc. When we fortify our tunnels and borders with metal, they go up to the ground and pounce from above. Many have fallen." His eyes narrowed a little. "We never thought of asking for help, however. I was not even aware that a distress signal was launched."

Allura was taken aback by this. "Excuse me? I'm certain we received a signal from Taua."

"I'm wondering about that, too," Lapisi retorted. He looked back at the cluster of Tauans gathering behind him, waiting for someone to speak up.

"…it was me," a small voice said, and a small Tauan walked forward. Hunk recognized them as the one that told them they couldn't kill the insect by beheading it.

Lapisi whirled to the voice. "Taimane," he said, his voice nearly a growl, "why would you do such a thing, you foolish girl?"

Taimane stiffened. Her nose and neck fur flared with anger. "I'm doing what we should have done from ages ago!" she yelled. Her voice held a squeaky quality that would have sounded ridiculous coming from a human but sounded totally threatening coming from her. "Our children are dying, and we have no idea how to deal with the Clickjaws! The chief _died_! How much longer are we going to let this problem fester before you swallow your pride and go find help otherwise?!"

"We could've solved this on our own," Lapisi growled.

"No, we cannot," Taimane growled back. "I'm not letting more of our people die."

"Just because you're the last chief's daughter doesn't mean you could control the clan."

Taimane's eyes widened and she bared her teeth. "Just because you're _acting chief_ doesn't mean your decisions are the best," she bit back.

Lapisi simply turned with a huff, like an adult dismissing an unruly child. It clearly irked Taimane even more considering how her fur bristled further – which was, wow. Hunk did _not_ think anything could bristle that much.

"In any case," Lapisi said, "perhaps having someone exterminate the Clickjaws would be good."

"Of course," Allura easily nodded. The distaste that Hunk felt for the alien badger was nonexistent in her expression – or maybe Allura was just that good at masking her true feelings, being a diplomat and all. "Could you tell me where the Clickjaws nest is? We will be faster in exterminating them that way."

Lapisi shook his head. "We don't know where they nest."

Allura blinked while Hunk resisted the urge to scowl. "I'm sorry?" she asked.

"Clickjaws have a habit of going into other insects' nests and eat every last one of them," Lapisi explained, "from the queen to the smallest larvae. Nothing is left behind. Then the Clickjaws use the nests, themselves."

"That's disturbing," Lance muttered softly behind Hunk. Hunk was inclined to agree.

"In there, the Clickjaws rest," Lapisi continued. "They will sleep for several day-cycles. When they wake, sometimes they would lay eggs. Sometimes they don't. For such ferocious predator, they don't lay many eggs, and we are grateful for that."

"So we need to track these Clickjaws down and kill all of them without any clue whatsoever," Pidge piped up with a huff. "Okay, that's not hard or anything."

" _Pidge_ ," Shiro sighed. Pidge glared at him before averting her gaze with a pout and fell silent.

Lapisi had ran his gaze around and met their eyes with surprisingly patronizing stare before he locked gazes with Hunk. His eyes widened before narrowing, and his tail swished around, its fleshy end grabbing at the air. Hunk shuffled uncomfortably.

"Perhaps it would be hard for _you_ ," he said to the others, though it wasn't clear who exactly he was addressing – probably all of them, really. "Although, it will not be hard at all for him." He pointed at Hunk with his large claw.

Hunk took a step back. "Me? What?"

Lapisi crouched to all four – wait, no, he had six limbs – and moved to Hunk faster than Hunk would have thought he'd be able to. All of a sudden he had stood to his full height in front of him, his perky pointed ears twitching. He was just slightly shorter than Lance. His wriggly nose sniffed at Hunk before he stepped back.

"You are of the Earth," he said, tone pleased, "are you not?"

"Am I what?" Hunk asked in confusion. Did the alien badger ask about his home planet or Yellow's element or what?

"I can smell Earth on you," Lapisi went on. "You are a child of the Earth, just like us Tauans. You are of the Earth, just like – " his gaze flicked to Keith and Lance " – how your red… friend is of fire, and the blue one of water. The smell of the Earth is strong on you; even stronger than us Tauans, Children of Earth."

Hunk stared. "Uh, so, is this about quintessence or something?"

"I think it's about quintessence," Lance piped up. "It's kinda like how things went for me with the Neranese. Except, you know. The prince singled me out and dragged me to a secluded hallway."

"Oh, okay, cool. Glad we got that cleared up," Hunk nodded and turned to Lapisi. "I guess so, yeah. I'm of the Earth. Why would that make it easier for me to track the Clickjaws down?"

Lapisi stared at him quizzically. "Does the Earth not speak to you? Does it not bend to your requests so long as you respect and protect it?"

Hunk returned the stare. "I'll be honest with you; I'm pretty new to this _someone of Earth_ thing."

Lapisi's gaze morphed into that of understanding. "You have yet to grow into your fullest capability," he concluded. He stepped forward and offered a paw. "Come with me. Let us Tauans open your senses to the Earth, so you both will be able to listen to each other. If you are truly a child of the Earth, then you should be able to bend it to your will."

Hunk glanced at Lance, who was the only one to have gone through a similar ordeal. Lance shrugged at him, seemingly nonchalant, pretty much screaming _your call, dude_ through body language. A cursory glance to Allura, Coran, and the rest of the team produced the same message. Hunk turned back to Lapisi, thought, and nodded stiffly while taking his outstretched paw. He needed to be able to track the Clickjaws, and he wouldn't say no to a helping hand – well, paw – to help him control his abilities, anyway. Besides, Lance got a full dose of knowledge over water, ocean, ice, and pretty much anything about water and all its shapes and forms, and he turned out pretty much okay. He should be fine.

Well, he hoped so, anyway. Who knew what kind of knowledge transferal databanks from some badger alien would do to his brain? …okay, he shouldn't have thought that. He was second-guessing his decision to do this and he was still a hundred percent sure he needed to do this in order to make sure the Clickjaws would be gone for good.

Either way, it was too late to back away from the offer. Lapisi had already pulled him to the throng of Tauans near the hole of the burrow they lived in. The Tauans shuffled closer to him, sniffing softly as though shy, before bumping their noses to his arms, chest, and back. It was… surprisingly cute. They were like cats, what the heck. Were earthen badgers like this, too? Was this a Taua thing? Hunk was leaning to the latter, honestly, but goodness he had to stop himself from running his fingers on their fur. He wasn't sure it was socially acceptable here.

"Everyone," Lapisi's voice boomed around them when the onslaught of nosebumps stopped. "This one is a child of the Earth, much like us Tauans, but his senses are yet opened to the call of the Earth. Let us open them for him."

"Uh, can someone explain to me how exactly you will _open my senses_ , like, right now?" Hunk pleaded nervously.

"We will _show_ you," a Tauan declared confidently. "We will _do_ it for you."

"Can someone _please_ explain before we do anything here?" Hunk asked again, a little louder this time.

The Tauans either didn't hear his plea (doubtful), or they didn't care about it (much more likely but _really_?). They rushed forward and put their paws and their grabby flesh tail at him; his face, his arm, every available surface they could put their able appendages on. Hunk gave a muffled _oof_ when a grabby tail squished him in the face. He _so_ preferred the nosebumps to this.

Before he could voice his objections, light exploded beneath his eyelids. He flinched back in surprise, but the Tauans' hold kept him in place. The light strengthened in intensity, almost painful.

And then Hunk's whole _senses_ just kind of… got pried open. If he thought his horizon expanded the moment he stepped foot on this planet, boy was he wrong. It was peeking through half-closed eyelids, through shyly knit lashes that refused to give out full view of things. Now, though, the difference was jarring. Each little tremor sent screaming sense of awareness into his head. He was suddenly so very _aware_ of where his teammates were, of each little thing they did. He could feel Lance digging his heel into the ground in worry, he could feel Keith tapping his foot and Shiro holding him back. He could feel Coran, farther away, standing rigidly in place, hardly breathing. He could feel the little Tauans so very deep in the burrowed tunnels shifting in their sleep. It was surprising, breathtaking, and perhaps a tad… terrifying.

Before, the informative whispers the Earth breathed into his skin was a soft and melodic symphony of piano keys and violin strings. Now it grew in crescendo, climbing in volume so drastically and dramatically that he nearly keeled over in shock. What he had accepted as pianissimo whispers suddenly turned into fortissimo bangs of a drum of war, of cannons being fired, in no less than a breath. The difference was jarring.

The Tauans let go of him. Hunk dropped to his knees with a groan, the screams of the tremors around him too much like an unforgiving earthquake for him to function properly. He clasped his hands around his ears, trying to block out the noise around him, but it was no use. Even if he could block out sounds he couldn't block out the tremors. The way the Earth suddenly demanded his attention gave him a headache.

He felt rather than heard someone approaching, their steps too alike to a giant's booming stomps for him to identify the person. Another followed suit, and suddenly he felt hands on his shoulders, warm and cool and _quiet_. Somehow, suddenly, he instinctually knew how to block out the tremors, even if just a little. Slowly, the tremors muted its screams that demanded attention into much more manageable loud calls, asking rather than demanding for his response. He sighed in relief, the pounding headache finally easing away. It was still there, a dull presence at the back of his mind, but it was nothing compared to the sharp and unrelenting throbs it manifested in before.

He opened his eyes to see both Keith and Lance staring at him with worry in their eyes. Hunk suddenly remembered how they had combined their powers before, and how Lance's knowledge to control his quintessence had bled over their connection and gave Keith a head start at mastering his. He wondered if the same thing had happened to him.

"Are you okay?" Lance asked, his voice soft and gentle. He seemed to know that stimulation seemed like something Hunk wouldn't appreciate much right then. Hunk was grateful for that. He nodded slowly, blinking and trying to adjust to his newly sharpened senses.

"What the quiznak did you do to him?" Keith demanded, turning sharply at the group of Tauans that had stepped back from them.

"We opened his eyes," Lapisi answered indignantly. "As fellow children of the Earth we simply cannot let another child of Earth stay so unresponsive from Earth's calls."

"Do the people whose eyes you _open_ usually react this badly?" Lance asked. His voice held a rumbling quality that reminded Hunk of a coming ocean storm. Ever since Lance had been able to control his quintessence, he'd been reminding Hunk more and more of the sea.

"We do not know if they would be so weak to the Earth's demands," Lapisi chittered defensively.

Lance's hold on Hunk's shoulder tightened. Keith took a deep breath, the air around him rising in temperature. Behind him, Hunk could feel Shiro, Pidge, Allura, and Coran shifting, could feel their protective anger seeping into the soil and into his skin. Hunk waved his hands immediately to diffuse the situation, yelling, "Hey, hey, it's okay, I'm okay! Don't we have a mission to do?"

The team backed down quickly, though reluctantly. Shiro stepped forward to Hunk and knelt, placing a hand on Hunk's own. "Are you sure you're alright, Hunk?" he asked.

"Yeah, peachy!" Hunk assured. "The Earth was _loud_ before, but it's a little muted now. I can still hear it really clearly if I concentrate, but it doesn't hurt me."

"It _hurt_ you?" Lance asked, alarmed. The storm in his voice was building.

"Not anymore, you and Keith helped," Hunk hurriedly assured. "I'm fine. I can do this."

Lance's eyes narrowed and he turned to Lapisi. "So you opened Hunk's senses. Aside from being able to _respond to the Earth's calls_ , what will it do?"

"It should enable him to coax the Earth to move to his will," Lapisi answered. "We Tauans are able to do it to some degree, which helps us making our burrows. Him, however… his potential is much bigger. He should be able to do incredible things, such as creating landslides and earthquakes."

"So, basically you're an all-out Earthbender now," Pidge noted quietly.

"However, this… boost… will not last forever," Lapisi warned. "A few vargas, most likely. Maybe half a quintant, or a full quintant if you're lucky. In any case, it will fade overtime and he will have to relearn the skills we have lent to him."

"Okay," Hunk nodded. "That's cool. I can deal with that."

Shiro sighed. "In any case, we'll have to deal with the Clickjaws soon. Can you point out where the nest is, Hunk?"

"Uh," Hunk thought, extending his senses to the Earth and coaxing it to answer. Before he could get the Earth to _speak_ to him, however, a voice chittered loudly.

"I know where they nest."

Heads turned, and Hunk's gaze met the young Tauan's. Taimane stared ahead with a steely gaze, tail lashing, its fleshy end grabbing at the air. "I know where the Clickjaws nest," she repeated.

"Why haven't you told anyone?" Lapisi growled at her.

"Because you would lead our people to a suicide mission," Taimane countered. Her tail lashed forward threateningly. "I know where their nest is. I shall lead the Paladins of Voltron there."

Lapisi gave out a low growl. "Very well," he said at last. "Just remember that if you died out there we would have no body to bury."

"We had no body to bury when the chief died either," Taimane responded. "We made do. Farewell, Lapisi." Her tail slowly reached out to Lapisi's.

"Farewell," Lapisi answered. He reached out with his own tail. The grabby ends brushed one another, tensed, and drew away.

"Coran, perhaps we could stay behind," Allura spoke up. "I'm sure the Paladins could handle themselves just fine. Perhaps it is best for us to lean back and discuss about… _other matters_."

Coran's eyes lit up when he heard _other matters_ being spoken conspiratorially. Considering them, Hunk supposed they meant an alliance was to be made. Coran nodded at Allura and smiled. "Of course, Princess. I'll keep you company here."

"I suppose we should head out soon, then?" Shiro asked the other Paladins. They nodded readily, their faces set in determination.

"Be careful," Allura called out to them. They nodded in response.

"Come," Taimane waved them over with her tail. "It's this way." She dropped on all four and walked away. The Paladins followed.

Hunk could feel the Earth guiding him to the Clickjaws' nest not even a minute after they began walking away, but he kept silent and let Taimane lead the way. It was obvious just how angry she was even with them being unfamiliar with the Tauans and how they express themselves. It showed in the hardness of her gaze.

"Taimane, wasn't it?" Shiro asked, breaking the silence that had fallen over them.

Taimane stiffened for a moment before she turned to Shiro. "Yes," she nodded. "I'm sorry, I forgot we were not formally introduced yet. I'm Taimane of Taua."

"Nice to meet you, Taimane," Shiro responded. "I'm Shiro, Black Paladin. This is my team; Red Paladin Keith, Green Paladin Pidge, Blue Paladin Lance, and Yellow Paladin Hunk."

Taimane's gaze met Hunk's. "It's an honor to meet you all. Although, if I understand correctly, only the Yellow Paladin is of Earth?"

"If this is about our quintessence, yeah," Lance responded. "We each have our own thing. Hunk's is earth."

"Hmm," Taimane sent a thoughtful gaze Hunk's way. "No wonder my people liked you. They tend to think that other elements are inferior to earth." She turned in dismissal before anyone could question her further. "In any case, our problem is the Clickjaws. They've been… a pain."

"I've been meaning to ask about them," Shiro said. "Can you tell us what exactly they are?"

"They're insects," Taimane answered. "But… different from the ones we have around here. They appeared out of nowhere several Spicollian Movements ago, and nobody could stop them. It is strange that we don't know what they actually are, because they nest underground and Tauans are in tune with the Earth. We know of all the underground-dwelling insects, but we know nothing about this one." Her tail lashed anxiously. "We couldn't' kill them. Beheading them ends with them duplicating, like you have seen for yourselves. Cutting them to pieces just makes them create smaller versions of themselves, which would grow bigger anyway. The only way to kill them that I've seen is to burn them to the ground, and I've only realized that today." She looked down, tail curling around herself as if trying to give her a hug. "No one in Taua realized it."

"I'm sure it was something anyone could've overlooked," Shiro tried to assure, though his voice wavered uncertainly.

"No it wasn't," Taimane argued instantly. "Tauans are extremely proud people, set in our ways of doing. We thought it was the only way we could fight the Clickjaws. Clearly, we were wrong."

Pidge cleared her throat. "Um, well, we're gonna do something about it now," she said. "You don't have to worry about the Clickjaws anymore."

Taimane sniffed. "Of course," she answered, bowing her head a little. "And I thank you for that." She turned and walked again, and the Paladins followed, this time in silence.

Soon, the grassy field they were waking on thinned out and gave way to rocky, barren land. Afar, they could see a cave, its yellowish rocks that formed the open maw of the opening glistening under the sun. in contrast, the darkness within looked cold, unwelcoming. Taimane pointed with her tail at the cave. "There. That's where the Clickjaws nest."

Lance stared intently at the cave. "In that cave? That opening looks a little too small for those humongous Clickjaws."

"Clickjaws are not that big," Taimane told him. "The one that you defeated was actually the largest I'd seen. Normally, they're smaller than that. Not to mention that they are very flexible in their movements."

Pidge hummed. "Is there anything we need to know about them, other than that?"

"The claws may look big, but they're not that dangerous," Taimane said. "They could grab, but despite the appearance it's actually pretty brittle. If you hit it hard enough it'll shatter easily. The jaws, though…" She licked her lips, tail twitching. "The jaws are strong. It's capable of cutting a Tauan in two in one click. I've seen it before… with the late chief."

"We'll remember that," Keith solemnly swore, nodding at her like saying a promise.

"Ah, one more thing," Taimane reached and touched Hunk softly with a paw. "Please remember that we've given you something to help you fight. The Earth will listen to your plight and bend to your will. Use that to your advantage."

Hunk paused and nodded seriously. He could feel it, the thrum of the Earth in his skin waiting for him to ask, to be mended and bent. "I will," he promised.

The Paladins shared a nod with Taimane before they turned to walk into the cave. Through the Earth, Hunk could feel Taimane walking away from them and hid somewhere, probably in case the Clickjaws came out. Hunk had to agree with her – she was probably worried about leaving them, but going along or staying in open space would be dangerous.

As they stepped into the dark that blanketed the cave, Hunk shivered. While he had trouble seeing in the dark, he could feel something shifting under the surface of the earth, twisting and reaching as though stirring awake. He gritted his teeth and turned to his friends, warning them, "Be careful. I don't like how this cave feels like."

"Why, what does it feel like?" Lance asked curiously.

"Like there's something slimy underneath just waiting to spring up."

"I regret that I asked."

"In any case, we have to move deeper," Shiro spoke up. "Set your visors to night vision, but set it to adjust to light. If we can only kill these things with fire, we can't let Keith's flames blind us."

They each reached to their helmet, setting their visors. When Hunk saw that they were done, he stepped forward and pointed. "Come on, it's this way. The cave is deep. It will branch into tunnels, since it's shaped similarly to an ant's nest, but I can feel that there aren't that many Clickjaws around and they all stay in one chamber."

"I wonder if they have castes or something similar," Pidge mused. "If these overgrown ants are actually like ants, we'll probably have to track down the queen and kill it."

"Do you think the one we killed before was a young queen trying to find a new place to nest, then?" Keith asked. "Taimane said it was the biggest she's seen."

"That's possible," Pidge nodded. "In any case, if this is like an ant colony, we'll have to strike the queen. Which will be hard, because other ants will totally protect her."

"Just another day in life, then," Lance shrugged with a bitter smile. "So, anyway. What's the game plan?"

"Get in, wreak havoc, get out?" Keith proposed.

"That seems to be the best plan, yes," Shiro agreed. "Though, do mind to be careful. We didn't come here to end up being buried alive."

Keith screwed his nose. "Wasn't planning on it."

Shiro nodded in approval. "Well, ready your weapons. Make sure not to get separated. Hunk, lead the way."

Hunk nodded and took the lead, making his way into the darkened tunnel and silently expressing his gratitude to whoever made the Paladin armors that the helmets' visors were equipped with night vision. As he walked down, he felt the slimy feeling growing stronger bit by bit, and suddenly he knew that he had to follow that disgusting feeling in order to reach the Clickjaws.

 _Ugh_. At least the feeling wasn't deceptive.

Aside from the entirely unwelcome feeling the Clickjaws gave off, Hunk was also able to pick up more things from the Earth. The deeper they went, the better he could pick up the info the Earth was feeding him constantly. If before his newly opened sense was limited to feeling tremors, now he could feel _more_. He could pick up the way his friends walked, the way they tightened their hands around their bayards – or just plain tightening his fists in Shiro's case. He could feel the way their hearts thumped loudly with anticipation of what was to come. He could feel Lance's anxiety seeping into the solid ground and reaching his heart, even though there was no sign of it, not in his heartbeat or his sure, silent steps or in the way his voice came in breaths in their comm link when he spoke, a surefire sign that he was concentrating hard. Hunk could hear more. Hunk could _feel_ more.

He knew instantly that if he tried earthbending in this state he would probably be able to tear a dwarf planet in two. The thought scared him.

Still, he led them through the labyrinthine tunnels, deeper and deeper underground. At one point, they found the path they took forking into two instead of the sets of threes that they'd been encountering, and Hunk took a deep breath. "This is it," he murmured into the comm link. "We'll take the path to the right, and then we'll encounter the whole colony. There are twenty at least. I think they're sleeping, but once we begin attacking I'm sure they're going to wake up."

"Alright then," Shiro breathed in deeply and stared at them each in the eyes. "Be careful out there. Your own safety is priority number one. Remember that burning them may be our only chance, so Keith, I want you to be ready. Lance, since you can cancel out Keith's flames, I want you to be ready to provide cover for the rest of us. If any of us got injured, don't bother with healing – keep providing cover. Hunk, can you manipulate the Earth yet?"

Hunk ran his fingers over the earthen walls of the tunnel. He could feel the Earth humming pleasantly, its willingness to be shaped seeping into his fingertips through the gloves of his armor. "Yes," he answered after a moment. "I haven't tried it, but I think it should at least be similar to earthbending."

Shiro hummed in thought. "Well, if the place looks like it's ready to cave in, I want you to stabilize it," he instructed. "Do you think you can do it?"

Hunk nodded readily. "Count it on me."

Pidge activated her bayard, the familiar hook-taser combo lighting up softly with a soft buzz. "Come on, then," she said with a grin, "time to grill some alien ants."

"Yeah, we'll serve them with a side of guacamole," Lance grinned.

"Quiznak, Lance, stop shitposting," Pidge narrowed her eyes at Lance, but a smile was tugging at her lips. Lance shrugged with a smile on his own as he lifted his own rifle and put it in position.

"Alright, let's go," Shiro said, stepping quietly into the tunnel, his Galra hand activated. There was barely any sound it made, but its glow illuminated the tunnel instantly with purplish light.

The tunnel was short, so short. Barely even five steps in. Right at the mouth of it was a Clickjaw, much smaller than the first they'd encountered. The glow from Shiro's hand had drawn a reaction from it, and it screeched loudly, scrambling to get up and lunging for them.

The tunnels network immediately exploded into a pandemonium. The Clickjaws in the burrow woke and attacked immediately, almost blindly. Keith reacted instantly, rushing forward with his igniter in hand and lighting fire to hold the Clickjaws back, eyes and hands glowing red. Lance was just a fraction of a tick later than Keith, aiming his gun and shooting at the Clickjaws' eyes. The CLickjaws screeched in pain and lashed out.

Hunk pressed his hand onto the wall of the tunnel, extending his senses. His eyes widened. "Shiro, Pidge, three more Clickjaws coming from your six!"

"On it," Pidge responded, turning to see the overgrown ants rushing to them. Her grappling hook sliced through the air and tied several of the Clickjaws' legs together. Shiro rushed in, then, hand slicing to make cuts along the Clickjaws' body to incapacitate it. The other Clickjaw roared and lunged for Shiro's head, which he avoided easily.

"Pidge, retract the hook!" Hunk yelled. "Shiro, move back!" Once they complied, Hunk coaxed the Earth to mold into the shape he desired. It responded instantly, folding just like how Hunk wanted it to, and wrapped around the Clickjaws tightly, immobilizing them. He wouldn't be able to kill them himself, not really, but at least they could focus on the larger group of the insects.

Keith had managed to burn two of the smaller Clickjaws to charcoal with Lance at his side minimizing the damage directed to their own side by making pillars of water and walls of ice to hold off the heat and licking flames, all while maneuvering his rifle one-handed to shoot at oncoming Clickjaws' eyes. Again, Hunk coaxed the Earth to do his bidding and wrapped several Clickjaws within the clutch of dirt to immobilize them, and soon Keith had them burning up. Another snuck up on them and Lance shone like a blue starburst, and suddenly the whole Clickjaw was submerged in water, drowned in a misshapen bubble, thrashing. Soon it stopped moving, and Lance let go of his control, the glow dying away.

"So they can be drowned too," he noted quietly. "I guess even these guys need air, too."

"Save it for later," Pidge warned, "look at your one o'clock!"

Lance snapped into attention at once and began shooting one-handed again. "How many do we need to defeat, Hunk?"

Hunk felt the Earth. "A lot more, but I think they're all in that chamber."

"Good, at least we don't have to deal with stragglers," Keith muttered as he lit up another Clickjaws with a flick of the igniter. Hunk stared at him, suddenly unnerved. Keith was pretty much a pro arsonist by now, and flames responded to his feelings almost too easily. He'd have to herd the Red Paladin away from the kitchen, or he'd run the risk having his food either horribly undercooked or horribly burnt. Or, you know, have _his own hands_ burnt. Yep, totally have to keep Keith away from the kitchen. Also Shiro, because he once said his culinary expertise was limited to cup ramen.

He snapped his attention back to the scene before him when he felt more Clickjaws coming. He quickly informed the others, and soon more chaos came in to amplify the already raging chaos that had already broken. The battle was long and exhausting, considering that there were only five of them and almost two dozens of the Clickjaws, not to mention the overgrown bugs had such thick skin it was hard to actually harm them.

They managed, somehow. The onslaught of Clickjaws had finally relented when Hunk suddenly felt tremors under his feet, and from the alarmed looks his teammates wore he knew it wasn't just him. Lance threw him a look that practically screamed _what in quiznak is that_ at Hunk.

"Okay, guys, brace yourselves," Hunk gulped, "I think that's the queen."

The ground shook hard, an earthquake big enough to send sand and rocks falling on top of them. Hunk automatically willed the tunnels to stabilize. Just as it did, the earth underneath their feet cracked open, scattering them back while three small Clickjaws ran after them. Keith immediately burned two of them while Lance drowned the other.

The queen emerged from below. It was large, much larger than the other Clickjaws. It was about as big as a truck, with longer and larger body, the bottom part of its body almost disproportionally larger than the rest of its body, much like the Earthen ant colony's queen Hunk was familiar with. While the other Clickjaws have dark pink body, this one's coloring was light, almost white. Its horizontal jaws were smaller than the other Clickjaws' considering the proportions, but it was still there, and it was still much bigger than the others. Hunk gulped.

The queen screeched and charged forward, its large claws clacked loudly and its too-many legs stomped powerfully. The Paladins worked in tandem, moving and complementing one another's moves as easily as breathing. Hunk had to hang back and concentrate on keeping the tunnels stable, however, since the queen's erratic movements rocked the tunnels too much.

No, Hunk couldn't keep this up, not even with the boost the Tauans had given him. The Earth couldn't keep this up, and the tunnels longed to collapse onto its own. Hunk gritted his teeth and yelled to the others, "I can't keep the tunnels stable for much longer. We gotta go back!"

"But the queen is still here," Keith protested.

"We'll find a way to make I work," Shiro cut off before an argument could start. "If we keep annoying it, it will probably follow us anywhere."

"Well, we can do that," Lance grinned mischievously. A snowball appeared in his hand with a sparkle of blue, and he threw it like a baseball, screaming, "Hey, ugly!" The snowball hit the queen in the eye, and it clicked its horizontal jaws indignantly before screeching at him and reaching for him with its too-big claws.

"Okay, run, run, _run_!" Pidge pushed Lance forward, and soon the group were running through the tunnels. Hunk kept his concentration on keeping the tunnels stable, though he had to direct the others to get to the surface – one wrong turn was all it would take to lead them to certain deaths, after all. A few times, they'd had to annoy the queen one way or another to keep it running after them. Lance's snowball, Keith's fireball, and Pidge's bursts of shock seemed to work best, though the occasional rock throw from Hunk worked as well, and also, strangely enough, Shiro's lame insults accompanied by the glow of his arm.

Hunk's control over the stability of the tunnels was lost as soon as they reached the mouth of the cave. They hurried outside as the tunnel network collapsed on top of the queen's head, burying it under piles of rock and rubble.

"Is… is that it?" Keith asked softly.

"The Tauans said they couldn't kill the Clickjaws," Shiro reminded. "Stay on alert. This isn't over yet."

As if on cue, the queen emerged from the rubbles with a roar, sending dust and sand flying and raining over them. Shiro coughed loudly when he inhaled dust, but soon all five of them had adopted a fighting stance and stared at the queen head-on.

The queen, for its part, looked absolutely pissed. It clicked its jaws in agitation and irritation before it strode forward, claws extending, clearly intent on snapping Pidge in half. The girl leapt aside and tied the claw, keeping it in place. "Someone do something to immobilize this thing!" she demanded.

"On it!" both Hunk and Lance responded. Hunk quickly coaxed the Earth to bend under his will, wrapping around the queen's limbs to keep it in place and unable to move anywhere, while Lance sent torrents of water to wrap around its joints and froze it.

"Keith, fire," Shiro instructed. The Red Paladin nodded at it and flicked his igniter, and flames burst forth and wrapped around the queen with vengeance. The queen screeched in pain, wriggling and writhing without vain.

Though, it didn't last for too long. The queen managed to break off the restraints Hunk and Lance had made since the fire weakened them, and it rushed to Keith in anger. Its claws sliced through the air to crush Keith, but they had become so brittle they crumbled to dust the moment they touched him. The queen wasn't deterred, however, and instead bent to cut him in half using its jaws.

"Keith!" Lance yelled in horror, while Pidge screamed wordlessly and Shiro ran to grab Keith. Hunk knew, however, that he wouldn't be able to save Keith in time. He was too far, and the queen was too fast, and Keith was frozen in place, too shocked and caught up in the _freeze_ section in the _fight, flight, or freeze_ instinct aisle. By the time he caught himself and lifted his bayard to drive off the queen, he would have been defeated.

A surge of power filed Hunk up to the brim, making him glow with bright golden-yellow light that made him look like the personification of the sun. With a cry, he let the power of the Earth run through him as a conduit, willing the Earth to save Keith. Immediately, quakes ran through the Earth, knocking everyone but Hunk off their feet, including Keith and the queen. Hunk put his hands together, intertwining his fingers, held it up above his head and brought it down swiftly and powerfully.

The ground beneath the queen crackled and fell, instantly creating a crater the queen fell into with a cry of its own. It tumbled down and laid in the center of the crater, howling painfully. Hunk kept it in place by wrapping it in dirt.

Keith had fallen to his butt, staring at the queen with wide eyes. One of his legs dangled off the crater, and he looked as white as sheet.

"Keith, you okay?" Hunk called out.

That snapped Keith out of his stupor. He scrambled away from the crater and stood, stumbling a little, but regained his footing quickly. "Y-yeah, I'm fine," he assured. "Thanks, Hunk."

"Oh, good," Hunk laughed in relief, walking closer to the Red Paladin and clapping him on the shoulder. "I was worried you'd be hurt. Anyway, think we should finish off the queen? Your fire works best."

Keith blinked a few times before nodding. "Yeah, okay," he said at last, lifting his igniter. Fire immediately sparked, and the queen was soon burned to charcoal. Its howls of pain reverberated through the air, but Keith didn't show any hesitation. If anything, the flames burned brighter and hotter. Soon nothing was left in the crater but blackened something that no longer could be recognized. With a satisfied nod, Hunk willed the Earth to fill in the crater, burying the charred remains with rocks and sand.

Silence fell on them, and Shiro soon broke it with a cross between a relieved laugh and a tired snort. "Good job, guys," he praised. "Great thinking on the crater, Hunk."

"Aw, don't mention it," Hunk laughed bashfully. "We all didn't want anything to happen to Keith."

"Speaking of which," Lance strode to Keith and began poking him. "Are you alright? You were the one closest to the queen earlier. Does anything hurt? Do I need to heal you?"

Keith slapped Lance's hand away gently. "Don't worry about it, I'm fine."

"You sure?"

"Yeah. Also, if there's anything I prefer to just use the cryopod. Better that than you exhausting your quintessence."

"That's right, Lance," Shiro agreed. "No healing unless it's absolutely necessary. We can't have you collapsing either."

Lance _humph_ ed. "Fine," he relented.

"Should we go back to the Tauans' tunnels now?" Pidge asked aloud. "Allura and Coran are waiting."

"We should, yes," Shiro nodded. "Hunk, do you think you can lead us back there?"

"Sure, I can do that," Hunk answered readily. "Only, I don't think I need to. Taimane is coming. She's been waiting for us this whole time."

"Wait, really?" Lance perked up. "Where is she?"

"She's been hiding in that shrub over there," Hunk pointed at the pink shrubbery over his shoulder, from which Taimane crept out of and walked to them.

"Did you get all of them?" she asked, whiskers twitching nervously and tail swishing back and forth. "Are they gone? Every last one?"

"Yeah, we got all of them," Hunk assured, feeling through the ground to check once more. He didn't feel anything. The Clickjaws were gone.

"Thank the Earth," Taimane sighed, tail drooping alongside her breath. Her eyes twinkled with relief and happiness. "Thank you, Paladins. Truly, thank you. We Tauans can rest easy now. I don't know what I can do to make it up to you."

"The Princess and Coran were hoping we can form an alliance," Shiro revealed, "but that's something we should discuss with the rest of your people. What about we just return for now?"

"Yes, certainly," Taimane nodded vigorously. Her tail grabbed at the air with more vigor than before. "Let's go back."

The walk back to the Tauans' settlements was mostly quiet, as each Paladin began feeling post-battle fatigue settling in. They were happy though, and relieved that the mission was relatively successful. They were sure that this good news could secure the Tauans into making an alliance with them. That meant more people to help them defeat the Galra Empire.

When they got back to the tunnel networks the Tauans lived in, they popped out of the burrow in waves, greeting them, each chittering questions of _did you get them_ and _are they dead now_ and _are we safe_. The onslaught of questions were cut off when Allura and Coran broke through the throng of Tauans to greet the Paladins, Coran openly assaulting Lance with a bear hug that the younger man returned immediately with a laugh. Coran then proceeded to hug the rest of the team while Allura demanded details on how the mission went.

"We got into the nest with no problem thanks to Taimane's guidance," Shiro explained, "and Hunk led us through the tunnels. It was a hard fight, but we managed to beat the Clickjaws. None of them are left now."

"Is that true?" Lapisi's voice rang out from the crowd, and suddenly he was in front of Hunk, who stepped back in surprise. "The Clickjaws are gone?"

"Well, yeah," Hunk nodded, pointing at Shiro. "Shiro's just said that."

Lapisi's eyes sparkled. "Oh, thank the Earth," he breathed. "I can't thank you enough, Yellow Paladin. Your efforts is truly much appreciated."

Hunk waved him bashfully. "Aw, it's nothing. It's a team effort, really. And it's Keith who actually killed the final boss; without his fire we wouldn't be able to kill off the Clickjaws."

The acting chief blinked and turned at the Red Paladin, the glee that overflowed from his person before seeping away in ticks. "…ah. I see. That's good." He turned back to Hunk. "In any case, thank you, Yellow Paladin. I hope there's something I could do to make it up to you."

"Well for starters you could thank my friends too," Hunk answered immediately before Allura could cut in with alliance talk. "As I said before, it's a team effort."

"I'm sure you played the biggest part, given that you are a child of the Earth and your… friends are not."

Hunk stared at the badger-like alien with his mouth hung open, for once completely speechless, and he knew the rest of his team as well as the Alteans were too. He and his friends had worked hard to save them, but only Hunk got the credits because he was, apparently, a _child of the Earth_? Just because he could understand what the dirt and sand whispered to him, he deserved to be thanked while his friends didn't? Even though they all struggled together?

"Bullshit," he burst out before he could stop himself.

"I – pardon?" the chief chittered in confusion.

"Bullshit!" Hunk repeated, louder this time, too angry to care about the possibility of ruining an alliance.

"Oh boy," Lance muttered behind hs back. He sounded giddy, almost; the grin was audible in his voice.

"I'm afraid I don't understand," Lapisi voiced his confusion. "Am I, and my people, not thanking you for your help?"

"Yeah, just me," Hunk rolled his eyes. "What about my friends? Don't they deserve thanks too?"

"Ah." There it was again, the disdainful look. "I'm afraid we all believe that only children of the Earth are worthy of our thanks. We are people of Earth. Anything else is beneath us." He pointedly ignored Taimane's loud _speak for yourself_.

Keith bristled and took a step forward, opening his mouth and hissing the word _listen_ , but he stopped dead in his tracks when Hunk spoke above him.

"Fuck you," he swore loudly. Behind him, Allura and Coran gasped in horror while Pidge cackled loudly, and Hunk could feel both Keith and Shiro's flabbergasted stare at his back.

" _Oh boy_ ," Lance repeated. Hunk could practically see him bouncing on his heels.

He chose to ignore them in favor of staring Lapisi down. "Fuck you," he repeated. "Fuck you, and your entire ancestral line, and all your descendants to come. Fuck you and all your close and extended family and all their relatives and their relative's relatives. Fuck you and your wife and your husband from another life. Hell, fuck your pets and your pet's pets. Fuck everything that has anything to do with you, your race, and your children of Earth bogus, and your superiority complex. Just plain fucking fuck you, man."

Lapisi stared at him silently, jaw hanging open in shock. Complete silence had fallen over the Tauans as they all stared at Hunk with the same shock in their eyes.

"…what?" was all Lapisi could say when he finally found his voice.

Hunk glared hotly at him. "Do you know how hard it was to take care of a cave full of giant ants? No! because you weren't there! My friends and I was! The reason why all of us are still alive is because we all contributed and helped each other. They deserve as much thanks as I do! Maybe even more! They're the ones who actually killed the creepy insects, not me! And now you're saying that they don't deserve thanks because their affinity isn't with earth but with other substances? Fuck you!"

Lapisi worked his mouth for a moment silently before bristling at him. "How dare – how am I to know that you're telling the truth?"

Hunk growled in frustration, and the power of the Earth rushed through his veins once more. Earthquake shook the valley they were standing in, and the dirt at the top of the hills began crumbling down in a small landslide. Cracks appeared on the earth, breaking the valley in two. Lapisi stared at him, wide-eyed, fear shining though the black of his pupils.

"You know what I'm capable of," Hunk growled. "You know that I would be perfectly capable of breaking a dwarf planet in two right now, with the boost you'd given me earlier. Each of my friends are as powerful as I am at the very least, and each of us is attuned to a different element." He straightened up and cracked his knuckles, and more cracks appeared on the earth. "Perhaps you would like to see a demonstration. How fast do you think we can level your tunnels?"

"Hunk, that's enough," Shiro snapped, alarmed. "I think you've made your point clear."

Hunk complied, backing down immediately. The quakes stopped, but he didn't make any effort to stitch back the valley to what it looked like before. "My point stands," he murmured, still too upset to say anything else.

Shiro shook his head. "We'll talk about this later. Princess?"

Allura snapped out of her stupor. "Ah, um, yes." She straightened up and turned to Lapisi. "I apologize for this behavior. You must forgive the Yellow Paladin, the battle fatigue must be catching up to him."

Hunk felt his ire spiked at Allura's word choice, but swallowed it down. He had probably ruined their chances of alliance, best not to make anything worse. He felt Lance approaching though the tremors the Earth sent, and felt the warmth of his gloved hand as he wrapped it around his. Hunk appreciated the gesture, but stayed mum.

"Of course," Lapisi responded to Allura, sounding shaken, and Hunk felt satisfaction snaking its way to his stomach despite himself. "Still, it is true that his efforts is greatly appreciated. Tell me, is there anything we Tauans could do?"

Allura hummed. "I was hoping that we could form an alliance to stop the Galra Empire for good," she began, "but honestly, I'm not sure your people would accept such proposal from us, the lowly caste, since we are not of the Earth."

Hunk blinked and stared at Allura, slack-jawed. The rest of the Paladins mirrored his expression, though Coran appeared unperturbed. Hunk threw Lance a _look_ , which Lance immediately returned; both looks conveying a resounding _what in the world is happening here?_

Lapisi, too, looked completely taken aback by this. "That… is not what I meant."

"Oh, I must have misunderstood then," Allura swiftly replied, though she didn't sound sorry at all. "In any case, I don't think an alliance would have worked well for us. However, we will still leave you a communicator device – if ever you need help from Voltron, we will come and lend you a hand." She turned and produced a small comm device from a pocket Hunk never knew existed and called out, "Taimane?"

Taimane squeaked in surprise. "Um, yes?!"

Allura smiled gracefully at her and gave her the device, wrapping her paws around it and patting her fur gently. "I trust you to hold this device," she said, eyes staring straight into Taimane's. "Remember, if you need help from Voltron, call us. We will come to help you as soon as we can."

Taimane blinked and nodded seriously. "Of course," she replied, holding the comm device close to her chest. "I will guard this. Your deed will not be forgotten, Your Highness."

Allura's smile widened, and she took a step back, looking around at the rest of the Tauans. "Please remember that Voltron is here to protect you," she announced. "We will never abandon you, so if you need us, we will be here. Thank you for your cooperation. We will take our leave now." She turned away gracefully and motioned at the others to follow.

The Paladins quickly fell in line, walking behind Allura and Coran to show a more official look. They left in silence, as the Tauans stared at their retreating backs without words.

"Um, Allura?" Lance spoke up once they were far enough away from the Tauans. "You didn't push for an alliance?"

"I was hoping for it," Allura sighed, "but frankly, Hunk isn't the only one who is tired of their… ridiculous philosophy. Coran and I tried to establish an alliance one way or another while you were gone, but all they were talking about was how there was no way a bunch of people who were not of the Earth could take down the Clickjaws."

"Also, they didn't seem to regard us as equals," Coran mused. "The princess had an advantage in that she has a title, but that doesn't really help either. In the end no one really paid attention to us because we are not of the Earth. Nevermind the fact that Allura could manipulate raw quintessence!"

Pidge huffed. "I'm so glad we didn't end up forming an alliance after all," she breathed. "I don't think I'd be able to stand them."

"Frankly I'm surprised Coran and I could hold out for so long," Allura sighed.

"Well, at least we got something good from this whole fiasco," Shiro shrugged. "Hunk can now use the earth quintessence."

"Yeah, but the boost the Tauans gave me earlier is starting to wear off," Hunk admitted. "I'll have to relearn everything again. I remember how it felt, though, so I should be able to do it quickly."

"We can help you," Keith offered, glancing at Lance and earning a nod. "And I need more practice anyway, so we could tackle this issue at the same time."

Hunk fell silent for a moment, reaching out to the Earth and letting the feelings from the Earth climb up his legs. The music the Earth sang to him was starting to fade, turning into a phantom song that he could barely hear, though he was certain it was still there. The way the power of the Earth had travelled along his body was more than a little frightening, to be completely honest. Hunk honestly wasn't sure he could deal with the fact that he was able to destroy a dwarf planet if he really wanted to.

Now that the boost bled away from him, though, he began to feel sure that he wouldn't be able to reach that level of power anymore. He would be able to take control over the earth, sure, but he doubted he'd be able to actually destroy dwarf planets. Even the constant whispers the Earth sent him was starting to feel so far away. Hunk found that he… actually missed it.

Well, he liked how he could feel Earth beneath his skin and on standby, ready to be used if he needed it. He wanted to have it again, to make sure he could protect his teammates all the better. For that, he had to train himself.

"Yeah, okay," he agreed at last. "Let's train together."

Keith and Lance both threw him grins, and the rest of the groups smiled fondly. The rest of their walk was spent in silence.

As he walked up the ramp into the Castle of Lions, the phantom song of the Earth was finally cut off, as Hunk was no longer in touch with the actual Earth. Hunk didn't mind, though. He knew that with enough practice, he'd be able to feel the thrum of the Earth deep within his core.

He couldn't wait.

* * *

A/N: Aaaa sorry this one takes so long! Uni is absolutely ruthless when it comes to assignments, and you know when I finally got time to write this? Midterms. How is it that exam time is actually more relaxing than the normal study weeks. How.

Anyway, I picked the Tauan's names from some Samoan words I translated using Google Translate. Google don't fail me now...  
Also, the Hunk-cusses-a-lot scene at the end is actually the first scene I wrote, cause why not

Well, hope you enjoyed it. Have a great day!


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